Catholic Weddings

baptism and confirmation certificate

my priest says that my FI who is catholic needs to have his baptism and confirmation certificates reissued. how long does this normally take?

Re: baptism and confirmation certificate

  • edited December 2011
    For me it took less then a week. It depends on how busy the parish is. Some also ask for a donation to reissue one.
  • agapecarrieagapecarrie member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_baptism-confirmation-certificate?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:b879efdc-8f52-4513-a116-73c61f362d7dPost:c8758741-35ac-4601-88dc-071d15d1b0b3">baptism and confirmation certificate</a>:
    [QUOTE]my priest says that my FI who is catholic needs to have his baptism and confirmation certificates reissued. how long does this normally take?
    Posted by unplainjane[/QUOTE]

    The baptismal certificate at the home parish is the original holder of documents...any sacraments received afterward are reported to the original church so they can be documented on the certificate.

    Certificates are supposed to be reissued within 6 months of the impending wedding, so as to prove that the person has not gotten married before.

    If the church hasn't had any fires, moved, or closed, it should be a very simple process--- sacramental record keeping is very important. Without these extraordinary circumstances, any delay would be becasue of short hand staff, backlogged, or amount of requests (say a cathedral or archives for closed parishes).

    If the church has closed, there are diocesan archives.
  • edited December 2011
    Ditto agape.

    The Church requires the church in which he was baptised in to keep all of his records. He should be able to call the church and they will issue a copy (they always keep the original) to your FI so he can give it to your priest for the marriage prep and paperwork. If he doesn't remember the church, he should ask his parents and/or he may have to call the actual dioceses and they should be able to point him in the correct direction.
  • Calypso1977Calypso1977 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    i called the church where i was baptised and they had the record and sent it to my priest.  it took a week or two at most.  but i also grew up in a small town and personally know the secretary at the parish, so she may have expedited me.
  • edited December 2011
    Ditto PPs - but make sure the certificate is reissued within the requirements of the church where you are getting married. Our church requires the certificate to be reissued no more than 6 months before the wedding, but I've heard different about other churches in our area.

    I don't like outstanding "to do" items and wanted to get FIs certificate reissued asap, but then found out I had to wait till closer to our wedding date.
  • mica178mica178 member
    5 Love Its First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It took almost no time at all to get the records/certificate sent out from my home church to my new church, other than the fact that my parents didn't remember my baptism date, so the secretary and I spent quite a while on the phone while she flipped through the book (my parent's guestimate was off by 11 months, so she went through almost the entire year's book).

    Maybe you could call your home church and ask them to send out the certificate at a later date, if you really want to cross off that "to do" item.
  • catarntinacatarntina member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Mine took about 2 weeks.  But I had to call the Diocese archives department since the church I was baptised in had closed.  Once I got ahold of the right person at the Diocese, he was able to get it for me right away and had it shipped to the diocese handling my paperwork.

    H got his done in about a week -- he just emailed the church he was baptised in and they took care of it very quickly.

    The diocese I got married in said it had be issued within 6 months of the wedding, but since i was planning long distance and another diocese did my paperwork, they accepted one that was issued within 8 months.
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  • aimers1525aimers1525 member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    My FI had to do this (my records are at the Church we are getting married at), but it has taken quite awhile. He had to have an authorization for release form notarized before the Church would send his baptismal record.  He was Confirmed at another Church, so he also has to wait for that record as well.

    Those things being said, I would definitly try to do this sooner rather than later. The point about not requesting until six months before was also correct.
  • ootmother2ootmother2 member
    First Anniversary 5 Love Its First Answer Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    M had to call the church where her "formal" baptism was held.

    She was baptised immediately after birth because she was not expected to live.
    We had a formal christening party with the long white dress, bonnet, shawl, Cathloc godparents, etc. 6 months later.  The priest who had baptized at the hospital was MIA and the priest who did the formal one had died.  complicated, huh?

    I guess that was kind of like a vow renewal :)
  • unplainjaneunplainjane member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    thanks all! my FI's mom went to their church today and was able to get both certificates issued right there on the spot. though she is quite involved with the church so maybe they did it quicker for her.

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